Accounting briefs

The big four accounting firms are among the world’s best employers, say business students polled by global talent consultant Universum. They claimed four of the top five spots in the “World’s Most Attractive Employers" survey, but did not managed to wrestle the top spot from Google. KPMG was rated as the world’s second best employer, with PwC, Ernst & Young and Deloitte following. Nearly 85,000 students in 12 countries were polled.

Ernst & Young has posted global revenue of $US22.9 billion for the 12 months to June 30, up 7.6 per cent. Asia Pacific was the star performer with revenue growth of 18 per cent. No other region hit double-digit growth. Global audit income grew by 5 per cent, tax 6 per cent, advisory 18 per cent and transaction services 8 per cent. Headcount increased by nearly 11,000 throughout the year to 152,000.

Crowe Horwath, the metropolitan arm of listed accounting firm
WHK Group
, has appointed four principals to meet demand for customs, international trade and consulting services. Russell Wilkinson and Rahavan Yoganathan, both ex-PwC, will join the Sydney office. Kylee Valentine, a former small-business owner, will be based in Brisbane, alongside John Swete Kelly, former chief operations officer at Siemsen Group.

Ernst & Young has snagged former Clayton Utz partner Sue Williamson to lead its tax controversy practice in Melbourne. A former president of the Taxation Institute of Australia, Ms Williamson sits on the Tax Office’s dispute resolution subcommittee.

Australian audit experts have condemned radical proposals by European Commissioner Michel Barnier, leaked last week. “Even if adopted they would not prevent or predict a global financial crisis," CPA Australia audit policy adviser Amir Ghandar said. Mr Barnier has suggested mandatory audit firm rotation, rather than partner rotation, joint audits for large companies and blocking audit firms from providing any other services to clients.